Theology of Family 5: The Family on Mission

Theology of Family 5:
The Family on Mission

Psa 68:5-6

Thesis: The family, as the central functional unit of the church, is to be about the mission of the Kingdom of God.  The inclusion of orphans in Biblical families is central to the heart of God and is a mission that the family can undertake together.

1. Introduction
1. We’ve spent 5 weeks now describing how the family is supposed to function, how it serves as the main tool of continuing the faith, what it teaches the watching world, and how God can use it to bring healing. 
2. This week, we look at it as a missional unit. Many individual efforts can be made to minister and grow the Kingdom.  God can use individual people and singles to do many things, but a central piece of ministry can only be done by families: Orphan care.
2. Father to the Fatherless
1. Psa 68:5-6 Father to the Fatherless is God in His holy habitation.  God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
1. God meets the lack in the lives of His people. 

a)     Bread of life for the hungry

b)     Living water for the thirsty

c)      Light to those living in darkness

d)     Comfort for those who mourn

e)     Father to the fatherless

2. Explicitly described as helping the orphan and the widow 17 times in the OT.
3. God meets the lack of the orphan and alone by settling them in homes.  He does so from His holy habitation. 
4. Out of the riches of his glory he ministers to the “least of these.”
5. He desires to minister to the vulnerable through His people, in the old covenant and the new.
1. Justice for the Fatherless
1. Exo 22:22-24 ESV You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry,  and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
2. Isa 1:17 ESV Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.
3. Psa 10:17-18 ESV O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
4. Psa 82:3-4 ESV Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.  Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."
5. Those who would exploit others often choose those least able to defend themselves: orphans and widows.  God is very clear that this is a sin.
6. There are very clear warnings against this action!
7. His people follow his heart by defending these fragile people.
8. Modern ways to step into this ministry: CASA workers.
2. Provision for the Fatherless
1. Deu 10:18 ESV He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
2. Deu 14:29 ESV And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.
3. Deu 24:19-21 ESV "When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.
4. Clear commands in scripture to make provision for the fatherless out of the contributions to the Lord as well as out of the overflow of your increase.
5. Church-directed ministry funds as well as personal contributions.
6. The orphan and widow, who righteously lack the ability to earn their own food, should be cared for by God’s people.  The governmental aid we see is necessary because the church has not continued to take these needs as seriously.
7. Modern ways to help: Foster and Orphan Parachurch ministries.
3. Support  for the Fatherless
1. Psa 10:13-14 ESV Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, "You will not call to account"? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless.
2. Psa 146:9 ESV The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
3. Hos 14:3 ESV Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses; and we will say no more, 'Our God,' to the work of our hands. In you the orphan finds mercy."
4. God supports the mental, emotional, and spiritual needs of the orphan and widow.  He comforts them in the sorrows and calms their souls.
5. Children need more than a home and food.  The downtrodden need loving relationships, social support, and fellowship.
6. Modern ways to help: Foster Family Support Groups, Respite Nights, Counseling, Mentorship, and good old friendship!
4. Adoption and Fostering
1. Psa 27:10 ESV For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in.
2. John 1:12-13 ESV But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
3. John 14:18 ESV "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
4. Romans 8:14-17 ESV For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
5. Galatians 4:4-7 ESV But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
6. Adoption in Israel was a matter of defending the helpless, as it is in our culture.
7.  Adoption in the Roman world had less to do with caring for the destitute than securing an heir. 
8. Both pictures are Biblical.  God came to rescue us from a desperate situation in which we could not hope to succeed and to establish us as a co-heir with Christ and bestow on us amazing spiritual blessings.
9. Abba! God is not only “a Father.”  He is “our Father.” He desires intimacy with us.
2. What to do?
1. Jas 1:27 ESV Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
1. Spiritual disciplines of many kinds are extolled in scripture, but none of them are identified as the “center of the mark.”
2. Whatever else you think God wants you to do, the clearest way to “live out” your faith is to bless the vulnerable amongst us: the orphan and the widow.
2. 7-Church coalition story
3. Our Church’s piece of the puzzle: Foster/Adoption Training Announcement.
4. This is a whole-church action.
1. If you can, Adopt.
2. If you can’t, Foster.
3. If you can’t Foster, you CAN support the process!

a)     Childcare

b)     Food for classes

c)      Prayer

d)     Home-visit minor repairs